1st year mammogram
Last year I was diagnosed with early slow growing Dcis and had a 5mm mass and calcifications. I had a lumpectomy which came back with clear 5mm margins around my mass and 2mm clear margins with my calcifications which I was told is good margins. I was offered radiotherapy with the odds of my cancer re occurring after my lumpectomy being 90% chance of no re occurrence with just surgery or 96% chance of no re occurrence with radiotherapy . I chose to go with the 90%. I was scared of having radio because there was a risk my lungs or heart could have been damaged by radio thats why I chose no radio. I had my 1st mammogram 12 months on last week and calcifications are where my 5mm mass use to be. My surgeon told me today she feels its Dcis and I am going to have a different biopsy to last time I can't remember what she said apart from ill have an MRI I think and have the biopsy done somehow during the MRI. She said if its Dcis ill have to have another lumpectomy and its recommended to have Radio after that. My other choice would be a mastectomy which wont involve radiotherapy afterwards. So here I am with the same fear as last year, heart and lung damage after radio. Has anyone had heart or lung damage after radio in the past could you please share with me ?
DCIS AND RADIOTHERAPY
It is a week since my wide local excision of my DCIS and am feeling better althrough I had a large hematoema undeneath my breast... I received great pathology results from my surgeon on Tuesday that my margins were 100% clear, in fact, there was no cancer cells present at all (they were all removed during biopsy as the DCIS was so tiny... My surgeon suggested I did not need radiation but asked me to see a Radiation Oncologist for another opinion... I saw her today and she has told me that based on everything, she doesn't think I need radiation... I was really happy, but also a little worried that it increases my risk of this returning.. She also told me that I had Intermediate to High Grade DCIS and it is hormone receptive... My surgeon and the Radiation Oncologist both suggested I see another Oncologist to discuss Tamoxifen, etc but are both not 100% convinced that I need it either but it something I can consider... I am feeling really confused.... I sort of just want the doctors to TELL me what I need, rather than make these decisions myself... They are being mindful that I am only 40 years old and that the extra treatments may have a larger impact on my life, when they may not be needed at all... They are all wonderful Drs here on the Gold Coast but I'm just feeling very anxious that by doing less treatments now can put me into a higher risk category of facing all of this all over again?? Am I needlessly worrying? Should I just be happy that my DCIS was so small and completely removed and just get on with life?? Has anyone else had a higher grade DCIS and not done any radiation treatment? So sorry for all of the questions x
Liver biopsy
I have to do a liver biopsy next Monday as my mets are increasing in my liver and my oncologist wants to see whether the mets are still ER+ve & HER2 +ve. Has anyone here had a liver biopsy? Do they put you under or are you awake? They haven't given me much information. Any advice would be appreciated.
Making The Hard Decisions
BreastScreen Qld used mammogram and ultrasound guided biopsies to diagnose a cancerous lump in my right breast close to the chest wall which was removed by surgery on 17 May 2019, all went well. When I went back about 10 days later for the post-op they said they did not get it all as it was unable to be seen on mammogram or ultrasound and I needed to have an MRI and he wanted to check both to make sure there was nothing else lurking in there. I was booked for surgery on 13 June with the results to be looked at prior to that, if nothing then he would take out the bit missed plus a margin using the current scar. I heard nothing about the MRI and when i arrived for the surgery i was told that my file said that it was going to be what had been discussed, so I thought great and was relieved knowing that one more surgery plus the radiation and possible chemo and we are on the home stretch. They were running behind so i waited 2 1/2 hours when the surgeon came to me and described what we both had discussed and i commented that it was great the MRI had showed nothing else, he said he had not seen it but one of his junior doctors had so he went to have a look at it, he came back and said he was sorry but he would have to cancel the surgery as there was a line (mass) in my right breast and he would have to take my MRI pics to the panel the next day and see me on Monday to discuss their findings. I had been very positive up until then, I was angry and cried myself to sleep that night and the next day was inconsolable, until I decided to get off the couch and get on with my life and not let them beat me. I was not called with a time for Monday, so Monday morning rang up to check what time and told no appointment had been made and when I explained they made me first cab off the rank for the clinic. Surgeon showed me the mass which they say is DCIS, I have the option of just getting a mastectomy next Thursday or having an MRI guided biopsy on Friday to see if the mass is cancerous or not and then decide whether to go for surgery to take out the bit they were going to do with a bit more then chemo and radiation or straight to mastectomy and no chemo and radiation. Does anyone have any wisdom or insight into my situation to help me make this decision? I am so confused and upset by them upending my world.Biopsy by mammogram
I had my one year follow-up mammogram. Right breast all clear but now there's a new lump in my (previously healthy) left breast. Doc said he'd book me in for a biopsy under mammorgram. Considering the first mam hurt like hell - what is a prolonged mam gonna feel like? Has anyone had this procedure and can describe it for me please.
New Blood test (hopefully soon) that does away with biopsy!
This popped up in my news feed this morning - being developed by Queensland University! It seems that cancer DNA binds with gold molecules ..... identifying cancer in the blood with out the need for invasive and painful Biopsies! Abu Sina Research Fellow, The University of Queensland Laura G. Carrascosa Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The University of Queensland Matt Trau Professor, The University of Queensland Hopefully they kick off human trials soon ..... and made available to everyone Read all about it here: https://theconversation.com/one-test-to-diagnose-them-all-researchers-exploit-cancers-unique-dna-signature-108078
Thought I'd share this article by NBCF...
Hi All, I saw this Article by NBCF and thought it was interesting, how fantastic would it be to develop a blood test instead of tissue biopsies for detection!!! https://nbcf.org.au/news/research-news/simple-blood-test-offers-major-step-early-detection-eight-common-cancers/ Hugs Melinda xo
Had The Op, Now For The Results ...
Hi Ladies, I have had my part mastectomy and sentinel node biopsy on the 15.11. I am now home and resting very well. I am feeling very good and just keeping my mjnd active by scrolling through this site and a few others. My op went well I lost on about half of my breast, she is nice and perky now. I have a great surgeon and his work is wonderful. I am now playing the waiting game for the results to know where to from here. I have a very large support group of family and friends and they have made this all easy so far. My breast care nurse said this is the part where humans are working their magic on figuring out how my cancer works, so to give them the time to do so ,and then we will go from there. Her ringing me and checking on me has been a wonderful thing, she is so full of information, so I can calmly go on for the next two weeks not expecting any results and just healing and enjoying my family. I do read alot of stories and comments on here, and I am learning so much from everyone, Thankyou All this really is a great place to be. My best wishes to Everyone. ~D~
Annual Scans and Stereotactic Biopsy
I had my annual scans last week (ultrasound and mammogram) and my surgeon called today to say they have found something small but suspicious and I will need to have a stereotactic biopsy on Monday to investigate. Has anyone else had one of these biopsies? I am a bit anxious as my original core biopsy at diagnosis 2 years ago was really painful, even with a few shots of local anesthetic, and that was before my lumpectomy left my boob full of scar tissue. I won’t get the results until Thursday so I have a week to worry about the possibilities of having to go through treatment again. Would appreciate hearing from anyone else who has gone through something similar and how they went. Thanks Bmac :)
Beautiful strangers
The Kindness of strangers. Over Easter at the caravan park at Alex Headland we met a really nice couple from Moree in NSW. The lady whose name was Anne, saw my Zonta pillow & explained how both her mother & Grandma had suffered from breast cancer & she was a member of Zonta herself. On getting ready to leave this kind hearted lady came up to me with a beautiful present of a Kelly Lane photo frame & a Butterfly key ring also a card wishing me well with my treatment. This is one lady I will remember with Love for the rest of my days. I feel truly overwhelmed. On another subject I saw the oncologist yesterday & found out the chemo will be delayed due to a lymph node attached to the lung, this was picked up by the SN biopsy dye, he is trying to bring forward a CT scan booked for the back end of April, before deciding if I should have a camera sent down by a lung specialist, when I had the initial CT scan I was informed of a node on the lung & that the surgeon would be keeping an eye on it, so I'm not sure if it is the same one. The 1 node they took from the armpit during the mastectomy showed cancer, which is the reason I had to have an axillary clearance the 10 nodes they took had no cancer in them. I am just hoping the chest 1 is clear too. did anyone else who had the SNB dye have it go to the chest as well as the armpit? To top everything off I now have cording & will see the physio again tomorrow for a massage. Eileen xx
